The main asset acquired by Sucre is a 70pc stake in Gas Guárico, currently producing around 53mn cf/d of gas. Venezuela’s state-owned PdV, which has a wholesale gas monopoly through PdV Gas, holds the remaining 30pc. The other newly acquired asset is a 30pc stake in PetroGuárico, a marginal oil field joint venture controlled by PdV with 70pc. The acquisition marks Sucre’s first direct upstream investment in Venezuela. The company is already an indirect minority shareholder in PdV-led oil joint venture Petroregional del Lago (PRDL) through Maurel and Prom, the French unit of Indonesia’s state-owned Pertamina that purchased Shell’s 40pc stake for $80mn in late 2018. Venezuela has long focused on crude rather than gas, much of which is flared. Capturing that gas offers potential carbon offset opportunities, Sucre says. The partners do not share the view that Venezuela needs new hydrocarbons legislation to attract investment. Venezuela’s gas law — which permits private sector control — is adequate and only five or six main articles of the oil law should be amended, along with implementation of tax cuts, to be competitive.
Sucre sees Venezuela as among the world’s last oil suppliers. In any energy transition scenario, the world in 2050 or 2060 will need to consume 20mn-50mn b/d of oil, and there are few countries that will be able to sell oil competitively by then. Venezuela’s infrastructure, albeit neglected, can still be rehabilitated at a lower cost than a new project in the deep offshore or in the Arctic.